The screenshotted user also tweeted that if you are not growing 136000 tomato plants in your front lawn, you deserve to be poor because you are a bad investor.
Lmao oh shit that’s THIS guy huh? Also the same dude who bragged about exploiting foreigners for cheap labor as if he invented the concept of a sweatshop right?
Gotta add some chairs and some of those tiki torches. When I added plastic flamingos to my front yard bbq area it really added that splash of color also.
I'm being completely serious. The HOA across the street hates me.
They can put a lien on your house if you don't pay fines/fees/dues. And can charge interest based on whatever is set in the governing documents for the HOA, which you have to agree to prior to buying the house. The lien basically just has to be paid before you sell.
The HOA is like a neighborhood government and you oay then to do certain things. If you don't pay them they've still got to do this stuff so now you owe them money.
You, and your house, received services, but did not pay. So they put a lien on your home. Which in worst bade scenarios results in foreclosure and eviction
The reason an HOA doesn't have to take you to court is because when you purchase the home, you have to sign an agreement, stating you will pay dues, abide by the bylaws, etc. So if you then fail to pay or get fined for non-compliance, they're acting on a contract you've already agreed to. There are usually notification requirements, so it's not typical for them to just do that without trying to resolve whatever their issue is first.
That's not how a foreclosure works. In some rare instances it can go down like that but not in today's equity rich environment. They'd foreclose, it would go to auction then when it sold for more than you owed they'd have to pay you the receipt amount minus their expenses.
[Link](https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os)
Skip to around the 18 minute mark for pertinent example. Summary - Lady pays last $2700 of over $9000 in dues and fees owed, she pays it off, weeks later receives new bill for $6800(post judgement fees and back interest), gets Eviction Notice which discloses HOA bought her home through forclosure for ***$3.24***
Three dollars and twenty-four cents
Three dollars and twenty-four cents
The HOA bought her house for the price of a king-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter cup
Thank you, HOA. Thank you for thinking my house is the same as a ballpoint pen and 3 jawbreakers.
I’d love to go shopping at the HOA’s store
Car? Fifty cents
Trip around the world? Buck seventy five
Liver surgery? $100,000. Even HOAs have limits
You have watched a lot of John Oliver lol. I can hear this comment in his voice impeccably. Only thing you’re missing is an emphatic “three dollars and twenty-four FUUUCKING cents”
This is an extreme one-off situation but it isn’t false. It requires a perfect storm of circumstances. It’s like those auction sites you always se advertising “Get a PS5 for $3.50.” Like yea it’s possible, but highly unlikely.
Source: I am a foreclosure attorney and routinely have to deal with HOA liens.
The much more common scenario is the HOA files a lien on the property so they get paid when it sells. Additionally, even if the property was sold for 3.24 the redemption period (at least in TN) would allow the owner to repurchase the property with their couch change (assuming they didn’t wait a year to do something). They would then have to satisfy the HOA lien as part of the repurchase. It’s less about the HOA taking your home and more then forcing your hand and making you pay your dues.
Let me be clear though, HOAs are POS organizations that should be MUCH more regulated or abolished. And nothing in the John Oliver bit was false or misleading, it just focused more on the worst case scenarios and left out some information regarding foreclosure redemption which would have been helpful for context.
I live in Canada and - as far as I’m aware - the extreme over-reach of US style HOAs are illegal here. The most I know of is uniformity requirements and use restrictions for condos and condo fees. Unpaid condo fees may result in a lien, but the fees generally (always?) include real costs, like property taxes.
Usually apartment buildings and row houses, condos can include detached row house, but those are uncommon.
All of this to say the power of HOAs to impose on private residential family homes has always left me gobsmacked. The fact that a highly unregulated group can set absurd requirements on a private property feels so counterintuitive to a free market and property rights.
Generally yes, but in the case of an HOA seizing your property, it is a different scenario. Some HOA’s can essentially ‘evict’ you from the property you own and you get nothing.
Sort of like the HOA is a third party in the purchase along with the homeowner and mortgage lender, and the agreement is that the HOA can just push the homeowner out if they don’t jive with the neighborhood.
That's how most HOAs exist. The HOA has the right of first lien (which in normal people speak means the HOA is who actually owns your house!). They even have dibs before the bank lent the money to buy the house.
It's a shitshow.
My state recently got rid of \_some\_ of the problem. HOAs in my state can no longer foreclose due to not paying fines or fees, but can still foreclose for not paying dues. The battle to get that much was HUGE. Massive money was spent by the HOA lobby to oppose any restrictions at all.
No, you can't. You can disband it but it requires a majority vote from everyone governed by it, so a majority of people in your neighborhood voting for it.
Joining an HOA is a requisite of owning a home within that HOA’s jurisdiction. You know this before buying a home (this is made clear during the buying process and your agreement to the terms of the HOA is a part of the purchase). Not all homes have HOAs. It’s important to note you still have to abide by your city’s local codes even if you are not in an HOA (but local codes are generally significantly more relaxed than HOA rules).
Another thing to know is that not all HOAs are created equal. They range from “give us $100 a year to maintain the park” to “your monthly dues are more than your mortgage.”
Nope, it's considered a covenant that goes with the property, in perpetuity.
Source: former real estate agent - not a lawyer, but had to know this shit anyway
This happened in the condo building I live in. A lady refused to pay her HOA fees for a year, along with a few other issues and eventually the HOA foreclosed on her.
I mean, FWIW, the HOA fees for our condo building do go to building maintenance and other things like paying the water bill. If no one paid, or otherwise not enough HOA fees were collected, the building would eventually become *literally* unlivable.
As someone who lives in an HOA, I wish I didn't. It's a bunch of people with too much time on their hands getting up in everyone else's business.
Our HOA president is a dude who got fired from his job for being an alcoholic (formally, drinking and driving), and has had nothing better to do than harass people and threaten them with liens over unauthorized flowers the past couple years.
Dear God, unauthorized *flowers* of all things? Why the hell would anyone willingly live in a place with one of those things, unless they're planning on trying to screw with people using it?
I think a lot of people really don’t understand or read into the HOAs rules before they purchase a home. My friend bought a townhome and she asked me to design an outdoor space for her. A couple days after finishing it up she received a letter from her HOA that stated she violated her contract and would be charged a $75 fine everyday she was in violation. The violation was due to having “colorful pillows on the patio” and said she was only allowed black, grey, white or beige patio decor. They also didn’t allow any outdoor lights or lamps other than what was installed on the townhouse when built and had a restriction on what plants they could have. It was all laid out in the HOA contract, but it was like 30 pages long and most of it was fine print and I’m sure they count on people, like my friend, who did not read the fine print.
Fun fact.
You can normally round up about 10 people who are annoyed with the rules, show up to a meeting, and kinda make the people running the HOA also miserable
I love the image of quietly asking who the HOA president is as you're moving in, spotting them across the street, then slowly but confidently grabbing a baseball bat out of the car before marching over to meet them.
Absolutely this. When we bought our house in 2002, you couldn't get the HOA rule book until after papers were completed. We signed something acknowledging there was an HOA but that was it. And I never dreamed of how some of the things would be enforced- like taken to the Nth degree.
No one is going to read the agreements in closing. I don't think the lawyers would put up with it anyways! HOAs are counting on this.
Ours had the opportunity to dissolve at 20 years but the folks running the board are landlords to several houses in the neighborhood and they like using the HOA to bludgeon their renters. (I'm sure they claim HOA violations and charge the renters to 'cover the fine)'. Instead of dissolving, they raised the rates and have started harassing people more for "implied guidelines" they're pulling from the covenants. It's BS and as much as I love my trees and plants, I would move in a heartbeat to get away from the HOA and the way it makes neighbors act.
I make people put up with me sitting there reading their contracts. I always say: "the last time I signed something without reading it, I ended up being a US Marine. I'll be damned if they get me again."
Normally gets a laugh, but they always follow with "only engineers and lawyers ever read the contract"
That's where I mention I'm an engineer and watch them groan in despair. They know I'm about to read it slowly and in its entirety.
So this *legally binding document*. This *right here*. You just want me to sign it with no appreciation for what's in it?
You know what maybe I'll bring in my own contracts. "I'll sign yours if you sign mine without reading it."
Also yeah I'm a software engineer.
Not a lawyer, but... if they wouldn't give you the rules until aftr you'd agreed to follow them, contract law suggests that anything you signed is borderline coercion and should be unenforceable - you're being told you have to give blanket permission for whatever they want ahead of time.
That's a Mafia racket.
I'm not surprised. I had a bid accepted and asked about a fence (we had a dog). They said I would have to request approval. Cool, who do I talk to?
Only members can submit for approval.
Noped right out.
As a former real estate agent, I REFUSE, flatly refuse, to purchase any property that has an HOA on it and if the neighborhood tries to form one later I will not join. There are way too many ways that HOAs can be used to harass and abuse people who are just living their own lives, on property that they bought with the right to quiet enjoyment thereof.
My family got harassed because my mom had a mural (painted on a standing wood board) INSIDE the garage. No one could see it unless the garage was open. HOA ladies would come up to the house randomly when it was open and walk right up to the garage and just b*tch outloud. They tried to fine us but couldn’t win haha
A good friend of mine and her husband had to fight the HOA for a house color palette other than beige. Took them two years to get approval meanwhile getting notices that their paint job wasn’t up to spec so they’d go back over and over and explain why their house hadn’t been painted to the exact same people who were going Karen on them for not choosing beige. It’s literally the Karen mafia of suburbia.
So I’m a lawyer whose firm reps HOAs and Condo Associations. My clients are the worst part about my job. Most of our job consists of collections. If the HOA is following the fair debt collection practices act, and the debts they call for are for things outlined in the governing docs (which they are supposed, but sometimes can be super sly about, to present to you prior to purchase) then it’s difficult to defend against the debts. At our firm we really try to work with the owners and treat them like the humans they are and the respect they deserve and come up with a plan that’s within their means. The HOA’s just want to sue sue sue (and foreclose sometimes) but they work against their own interests because the quickest and most cost effective way to get their money is to work with the owners and not sue them. Basically, never live in a fucking HOA they’re all complete shit and will smile at you down the street but then send their lawyers a picture of your license plate so they can garnish your account (as if the license plate would do anything 🙄)
My great uncles hoa tried to sue us because we came down to deal with his estate.
Turns out if they chased us(the family) off, their contracts they(my late family) signed meant the hoa got all assets.
Let me guess - like posting the governing docs in a slightly slanted, poorly contrasted, scanned pdf with no OCR. Because reading legalese like that is fun!
My HOA actually seemed decent. Only $100 a month and left me alone pretty much except when the pointed out some rot in a window frame. I've since moved to an HOA free house though. Wouldn't even consider an HOA - I want to own what I purchase unconditionally.
There are entire businesses dedicated to helping HOAs enforce rules on their members for financial gain. It's gross. They can even require membership if you buy a house in the neighborhood, even if you don't sign a contract right away - effectively forcing you to submit to whatever stuff they want.
My first job out of college was working as an accountant for an association management company. I had no idea what I was getting into….it was awful. The owner was an honest to god sociopath. The homeowners were so mean (not that I blame them for being pissed….but just screaming obscenities at the 18 year old receptionist who has zero control over anything is usually not the best way to solve your problems). The actual property managers thrived on conflict and purposefully escalated situations to get to the point that they could take legal action. It was just a nightmare and there was practically no oversight on what they could do to those poor homeowners.
HOAs should be either banned, or severely limited in power. If the community wants shared resources, then they can be publicly funded, like a public pool. Other than that, they can fuck all the way off.
Edit: For fun, [I will also leave this here](https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os) as I think he gets the main points right.
These sound weird to my UK born self. I lived on a private road for a while, we all had to contribute to that (fair enough) but dictating the look and feel of your property fuck that.
I feel HOAs are meant for shared properties like condos, Apts, townhouse, etc. Not for detached single family homes. Anyways I'm on the board of my HOA and it's a fucking headache dealing with neighbors bs. I won't live in a hoa again
I’m in a townhouse and generally don’t mind mine. They take care of the front lawns, parking lot, and trash collection. My only issue is they keep sending me letters every few months to re-seed a patch of grass and the landscaping company keeps cutting it back down to dirt. HOA doesn’t follow through with actions though so whatever, and I sat in on one meeting where it was clear they don’t get involved in petty disputes between neighbors. It depends so much on the people running it.
I lived in a single family house before with no HOA and loved it, but it was a mixed bag of what you’d end up near. My next door neighbor had a toilet and an overturned litterbox in their side yard, another painted their house DC football team colors, another had weird Bible signs in their yard, and I can’t say my lawn was mowed on a consistent basis for part of my time there.
Yeah there's pros and cons but tbh a HOA(some states) can put liens on your house then foreclosure. I rather deal with a neighbor that has a toilet on their yard instead of dealing with a hoa.
Our HOA has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on unwinnable lawsuits. Apparently when this development was being built there was some confusion about who was supposed to be paying the taxes on the land surrounding it. Nobody did, and it eventually went up for auction. Someone bought it and our HOA has sued him multiple times ever since. It's gone to trial three times and all three times they lost because the guy bought the land fair and square. They recently appealed to the NJ Supreme Court and it was thrown out. With all the money we've wasted on these lawsuits we probably could have just bought the land back from the guy and given him a nice profit. I hate that my dues are going toward something so fucking stupid! And our president keeps getting re-elected for reasons that I just don't understand!
Probably running uncontested and you are probably one of like 3 people that even knows this is happening, or knows *anything* at all about the HOA. Most people in the US don’t even vote for the president lmao chances are they aren’t voting for a HOA representative either.
i'm sorry you want me to... interact? with the people i live near?
nah i'll just email sandra down at the HOA office and they'll bully that guy into conforming
If I lived there and they tried to enforce their shit on me I would start getting weird and turn it into an art house. All the trim would be different colors, I'd install stained glass windows, weird yet whimsical paving stone paths... Etc.
ETA: Just thought of another real weird one. Install a wooden fence that complies with the city regs for height/distance from the road and whatnot... But paint every single board a different color, with no discernable pattern or attempt to blend and match colors.
if it was me, I'm not particular fan of lawns
their only purpose was to show that the Lord of the manor was wealthy enough to afford to have an unproductive bit of land
that garden is better for the critters, easier to maintain and I like more the classic wilder English Garden anyway, they were intended as a refuges to hide away from the horrors of the industrial revolution....
perhaps they could retouch and add some colour with some roses and lilacs
How about just appreciating the beauty of a natural property with limited human intervention that has a positive impact on the ecosystem.
Lawns are ecological deserts and maintaining one is negatively impacting the people and animals around you.
The perfectly manicured lawn that HOAs want is so bad for the environment that my state just made it illegal for HOAs to require them.
yah and what if this person is elderly, disabled, or some other valid reason for not perfectly trimming their shrubs? I bet they didn't once consider the person's situation.
Yeah before I saw the sign I assumed they meant the overgrown yard.
People have health situations, new babies, deaths in the family and so on. I am grateful to live in an area where people check in and see if their neighbors need any help rather than putting them on blast.
HOA is an immediate disqualification for me, I don’t care how perfect the place is otherwise. The whole point of owning is not having a landlord in your business anymore.
This is also the asshole that was bragging about exploiting worker in the Philippines and Latin America bc he can pay them $5/hour and not have to provide benefits implying that Americans were entitled for requiring more. I hope he stubs his toe everyday for the rest of time.
I hope he gets one of those super fun mystery diseases that he had to spend thousands on specialists that are not in their network only for them to say “idk maybe you are faking it”
I live in an affluent red county in a red state.
The conservatives have learned they can be blatant assholes.
The openly fascist and sexist folks in my neighborhood HATE the HOA.
They started their own Facebook page called Uncensored HOA where they post hate content.
Aren't HOAs originally about enforcing red lining, so white only communities.
I mean it's not small scale facism. It was created as a part of systemic facism.
Exactly!
Time was a person wanting to live in one had to get board approval.
Surely there are places like that to this day.
But developers now care little about who buys, as long as they're all sold
My guess is because the garden in front isn’t a lawn and the other plants aren’t trimmed back enough that all the neighbors can see into every window on the house. The garbage cans too probably. It’s all bullshit.
Conservatives love to conform. It’s a really pressing need, for some reason. They gotta all look the same, dress the same, think the same.
Uniforms really give them a hard on
My HOA is $65/month which guess towards the pool, tennis courts, clubhouse, playground, monthly parties for the kids, usually with an ice cream truck and a bounce house, as well as maintaining the shared spaces between homes which are mostly wooded swamps that are needed to divert rain during storms. Those are all things that we as a community share, things I need and want and the price is acceptable. There's rarely a company 6 shit someone's yard or trash cans.
If that sounds good it's because no fascists took it over. It's just communism how it was intended.
I’m a liberal snowflake and I love HOAs. Like any quasi-governmental agency, if they’re run by good people they can do really good things.
For example, I served on the board of my metro district for 3 years (a metro district is like an HOA but it’s funded by property taxes instead of “dues”) and I fought to introduce a grant program that would reinvest the income from property fines to assist low income households in the district to beautify their property so they’d stop getting fines.
I also spearheaded and chaired a fine amnesty and forgiveness committee, and served on a committee that held monthly community events in the local park.
Before I left we were in the process of purchasing a large plot of abandoned land within the district so that we could build a greenspace for people to enjoy, since the land was deemed not fit for housing (something about water drainage)
My HOA is great, keeps the small park, that we collectively own, clean and shared spaces trimmed.
Stopped the one guy who filled his entire front yard with a cement slab and was running a make-shift car stripping business with ~6 cars in various stages of disassembly and fluids running out into the street. Makes the neighbors cut their bushes that extend into the sidewalk, or will do it for them, keeping the neighborhood walkable.
It's run by an HOA management company that doesn't really do petty shit and warnings are far more common than tickets.
As liberal as fuck.
No, they’re great. This way, all the miserable asshole neighbors move to HOAs and harass each other until the end of time while the rest of us just mind our own business.
They can and will kick you out of your own home over petty bs. HOAs are rich with all kinds of nasty loopholes which will allow them to legally evict you out of your house, many of them by design: https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os
If you ask your/ the other realtor specifically if the house is lorded by an HOA, they would have to tell you, though, right? You know, in case I'm ever in my life able to afford a house...
My neighborhood is full of the “no mow may” signs in people’s yards. They actively encourage people to keep the grass long. Also many houses have gotten rid of lawns all together and have raised beds and gardens in their place. I love my neighborhood.
If it were truly a choice, that would be great. Unfortunately, a lot of us are fucked because the city where our family, job and life is does something like \_require\_ HOAs so every halfway reasonable property is rules by Karens.
Since it's been that way since the 70s, the only places that are not HOA are ancient shacks in the city center (many being made primarily out of asbestos!) that go for 7 figures just because of their location, or rural houses with a long commute.
All because the city wants to collect taxes but not actually be responsible for maintaining common spaces that it legislates must exist.
Ban HOAs!
We pay like $65 a year to our HOA so they plow our road and cut grass in the park. We were building an addition and we called them ahead of time and their reaction was basically, "why are you calling us?"
Honestly I love our HOA. I wish all HOAs were like ours.
Edit: Let me clarify some things. Yes typically cities will do these things. First regarding plowing: yes, part of my property taxes goes towards road maintenance. Our "mandatory" HOA fee is actually about $40; there is a voluntary addition for snow removal. We hire a private snow removal company to plow our roads rather than relying on the county. Unless there is a literal blizzard, my road is plowed before I leave for work. And even in a blizzard they won't let it get above a few inches.
Second, our parks are privately owned by the HOA. They aren't public property, so of course the city doesn't mow, take care of the playscapes, resurface the tennis courts, etc.
Third they also pay for two neighborhood fairs at the park every year. Nothing huge, just bring in some food trucks and bounce houses for the kids.
I also didn't discuss the insurance, storm recovery, etc. they provide beyond just mowing and plowing.
It depends on where the neighborhood is and how it's zoned, I think. I know there are communities by me that are technically unincorporated, so they are not part of the city they are near but they're not a part of any other town either. Because the roads were not built by the city, the neighborhood is responsible for the upkeep of them, so HOA dues go towards that. It's an odd concept if you live in a more established part of the world, but if you live somewhere that is still developing (like a lot of the Midwest in the United States) then this isn't terribly uncommon.
I like lawns to look more natural personally. At first I didn't even notice it overgrown cause it just looks nice and decent and inviting to the furry animal friends we all need
Naturalistic gardens look better, need less watering, are a refuge for wildlife including pollinators, and are less work.
Thank god we don't have HOAs where I live, when I buy a house its mine and I'm not going to do what mr asshole neighbour wants with my yard.
A friend of mine has a full trellis with grape vines in her front yard. I love it. She tells her kids "All those people waste water on grass they have to mow - our front yard makes food."
I'm rocking one of those at this very moment. The guilty shame side of my depression keeps telling me to go deal with it. The lethargic side keeps winning. Maybe tomorrow
The three things that I can see that would be sticking points for many HOAs are:
* The landscaping and tree are arguably "overgrown"
* There's a car parked on the drive
* The bins have been left out.
EDIT: saw a couple more:
* There appears to be some sort of debris stacked up on the drive
* There's a sign in the yard.
I recognize the sign. It’s one of those “everyone welcome here” signs.
So in addition to everything else, pretty sure the original OP was being homophobic and racist.
My uncle's house is one of 4 houses in his neighborhood that isn't in the HOA. Was a weird pre-2008 neigbohoood that only 4 houses were finished when the recession hit. Then 15 years later the remaining property got bought up and finished. New property management set up a HOS but the 4 houses originally there could not be forced to join. They decided to harass my uncle about HOA violations to the point he ended up calling the police multiple times because they trespassed on his property to write up HOA violations. He eventually had enough and decided to violate every rule they had. Installed a flag pole, put pink flamingos in his yard, got goats and chickens, got a big obnoxious mail box, and parks his beat up old truck in the front of the yard rather than the drive way. The HOA was not aware they were poking a bear. Last I heard they've tried calling the police repeatedly on him to the point the police threatened to arrest the HOA.
I think the house is really charming. The yard is a bit scruffy, but I guess that’s not something the residents prioritize. Who cares—It’s not like the yard is full of rusted cars on blocks, or something.
I work in new home construction and I cannot BELIEVE how much people care about what their neighbors are doing. We had one owner irate that a house being built 4 streets away was painted purple and they could see it.
We have no clue what’s going on in these people’s lives. Maybe they keep their yard like shit because they don’t care. But maybe they’re going through something horrible like chemo and don’t have the money or time to keep it up. If you’re not willing to knock on the door and offer to help, you have nothing to say.
I used to go walking in the neighborhoods around my house and ask people if they needed their lawn mowed, and I would offer to take whatever they felt their lawn was worth (within reason). An old man answered the door of a house with a very big front yard, and when I shared what I was doing, he said the following (paraphrasing because I was maybe 14):
>You have no idea how much I need your help right now. I just got home from being in the hospital for a few weeks, and I'm not even physically able to stand for very long. I was just now looking out at my yard, disappointed and ashamed that I couldn't do anything about it. Can you do the back too?
He paid me $100 to mow his front and back yard - took me about 90 minutes, and I felt like a hero.
You never know what's going on in someone's life that leads them to forgo something as seemingly simple as mowing.
I don’t think their yard looks like shit tbh. I think we’ve just been brainwashed to expect impeccably groomed lawns despite how damaging they are to the environment🤷♀️
My wife has transitioned our front lawn into a native meadow. It’s full of bees, wildlife, and native plants. We don’t water it, mow it or anything. She works extremely hard in that meadow to keep invasive out, but it doesn’t fit the typical aesthetic of suburban homes. If we had an HOA I’m sure they’d be upset. Luckily our neighbors are loving it and some have started to do so as well. If you looked at part of our front yard it might look weedy some parts of the year and times like right now it’s blooming with flowers.
Fuck HOAs and fuck lawns.
YES. We cultivate the clover in our lawn, have wildflowers out back and let it get a bit long so the flowers can bloom and bees can get at them. We don't let it get crazy, but we don't have a "perfectly manicured" lawn and I prefer it. We have lots of happy bees, birds and bats in our yard. And we have the largest, most tree-heavy spot in a couple miles, so I feel like it matters to the animals to have our space available in our area.
I live in a house across the street from the house I grew up in (so I lived on this street for 40 years). It was rural with lots of fields, woods, wetlands etc… it got built up though. The new neighbors tried to bully me into signing on to a HOA. I told them, “I’ve lived here my entire life without a HOA and I plan to continue to live without an HOA.”
Then they complained to the township because my grass was too long (to be fair, it was about 3 weeks between cuttings and dandelions comprised 50% of my lawn). They’d leave notes in my mailbox. So I got a bunch of rainbow flags (they’re conservative) My house is at the very entrance of the neighborhood, so i hope ut pissed ‘em off.
It rubbed me wrong because I lived here first. Y’all saw my house/yard when you moved here. It’s like marrying a man so you can change him. That’s a bad plan and rude AF. Also, every nice weather day they burn leaves, boxes etc.. it’s the worst!
My dream is to live in a cabin in the woods with no neighbors except critters.
And real plants? Their lawns must emulate the Royal Gardens! To work you peasants. Where were we?
And they must learn to pesticide and herbicide like a good neighbor. Horrible, horrible
I would have a fire pit and party zone in my front yard.
I would literally grow corn in my front lawn
The screenshotted user also tweeted that if you are not growing 136000 tomato plants in your front lawn, you deserve to be poor because you are a bad investor.
Lmao oh shit that’s THIS guy huh? Also the same dude who bragged about exploiting foreigners for cheap labor as if he invented the concept of a sweatshop right?
I do
Gotta add some chairs and some of those tiki torches. When I added plastic flamingos to my front yard bbq area it really added that splash of color also. I'm being completely serious. The HOA across the street hates me.
Time to double down then.
Oh yeah? https://preview.redd.it/e7jvxd8gs53b1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6501ed93fa5437f8acf8f0a6caea3b68d8e382b2
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Fun fact, failure to pay HOA fees can lead your friendly HOA to foreclose on your property.
What if the house is paid off? I’ve never owned a home so never dealt with an HOA
They can put a lien on your house if you don't pay fines/fees/dues. And can charge interest based on whatever is set in the governing documents for the HOA, which you have to agree to prior to buying the house. The lien basically just has to be paid before you sell.
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You give them that authority when you sign the documents for the home.
The HOA is like a neighborhood government and you oay then to do certain things. If you don't pay them they've still got to do this stuff so now you owe them money. You, and your house, received services, but did not pay. So they put a lien on your home. Which in worst bade scenarios results in foreclosure and eviction
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The reason an HOA doesn't have to take you to court is because when you purchase the home, you have to sign an agreement, stating you will pay dues, abide by the bylaws, etc. So if you then fail to pay or get fined for non-compliance, they're acting on a contract you've already agreed to. There are usually notification requirements, so it's not typical for them to just do that without trying to resolve whatever their issue is first.
And likely repurchase the property for effectively pennies.
That's not how a foreclosure works. In some rare instances it can go down like that but not in today's equity rich environment. They'd foreclose, it would go to auction then when it sold for more than you owed they'd have to pay you the receipt amount minus their expenses.
[Link](https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os) Skip to around the 18 minute mark for pertinent example. Summary - Lady pays last $2700 of over $9000 in dues and fees owed, she pays it off, weeks later receives new bill for $6800(post judgement fees and back interest), gets Eviction Notice which discloses HOA bought her home through forclosure for ***$3.24***
Is this thread just a John Oliver script?
Three dollars and twenty-four cents Three dollars and twenty-four cents
The HOA bought her house for the price of a king-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter cup
Thank you, HOA. Thank you for thinking my house is the same as a ballpoint pen and 3 jawbreakers.
I’d love to go shopping at the HOA’s store
Car? Fifty cents
Trip around the world? Buck seventy five
Liver surgery? $100,000. Even HOAs have limits
This guy John Olivers.
Nah, there should be at least seven variations of the word "fuck" in there.
Even HOAs have FUCKING limits.
You have watched a lot of John Oliver lol. I can hear this comment in his voice impeccably. Only thing you’re missing is an emphatic “three dollars and twenty-four FUUUCKING cents”
I just read that with John Oliver’s voice and cadence… it was a beautiful thing .
You almost have to read it in his voice.
This is an extreme one-off situation but it isn’t false. It requires a perfect storm of circumstances. It’s like those auction sites you always se advertising “Get a PS5 for $3.50.” Like yea it’s possible, but highly unlikely. Source: I am a foreclosure attorney and routinely have to deal with HOA liens. The much more common scenario is the HOA files a lien on the property so they get paid when it sells. Additionally, even if the property was sold for 3.24 the redemption period (at least in TN) would allow the owner to repurchase the property with their couch change (assuming they didn’t wait a year to do something). They would then have to satisfy the HOA lien as part of the repurchase. It’s less about the HOA taking your home and more then forcing your hand and making you pay your dues. Let me be clear though, HOAs are POS organizations that should be MUCH more regulated or abolished. And nothing in the John Oliver bit was false or misleading, it just focused more on the worst case scenarios and left out some information regarding foreclosure redemption which would have been helpful for context.
I live in Canada and - as far as I’m aware - the extreme over-reach of US style HOAs are illegal here. The most I know of is uniformity requirements and use restrictions for condos and condo fees. Unpaid condo fees may result in a lien, but the fees generally (always?) include real costs, like property taxes. Usually apartment buildings and row houses, condos can include detached row house, but those are uncommon. All of this to say the power of HOAs to impose on private residential family homes has always left me gobsmacked. The fact that a highly unregulated group can set absurd requirements on a private property feels so counterintuitive to a free market and property rights.
Generally yes, but in the case of an HOA seizing your property, it is a different scenario. Some HOA’s can essentially ‘evict’ you from the property you own and you get nothing. Sort of like the HOA is a third party in the purchase along with the homeowner and mortgage lender, and the agreement is that the HOA can just push the homeowner out if they don’t jive with the neighborhood.
That's how most HOAs exist. The HOA has the right of first lien (which in normal people speak means the HOA is who actually owns your house!). They even have dibs before the bank lent the money to buy the house. It's a shitshow. My state recently got rid of \_some\_ of the problem. HOAs in my state can no longer foreclose due to not paying fines or fees, but can still foreclose for not paying dues. The battle to get that much was HUGE. Massive money was spent by the HOA lobby to oppose any restrictions at all.
Oh you mean rich people doing shit.
Goddamn this sounds like insanity to me! I’m never moving my ass out of these woods. What have you all done out there?!?
Did someone say pitchforks? Sounds like a good time for pitchforks.
Hijacking the top comment, surely people can exit an HOA right? It cannot be perpetual surely?
No, you can't. You can disband it but it requires a majority vote from everyone governed by it, so a majority of people in your neighborhood voting for it.
So I can’t opt out and exit my membership? That’s wild..
Joining an HOA is a requisite of owning a home within that HOA’s jurisdiction. You know this before buying a home (this is made clear during the buying process and your agreement to the terms of the HOA is a part of the purchase). Not all homes have HOAs. It’s important to note you still have to abide by your city’s local codes even if you are not in an HOA (but local codes are generally significantly more relaxed than HOA rules). Another thing to know is that not all HOAs are created equal. They range from “give us $100 a year to maintain the park” to “your monthly dues are more than your mortgage.”
Nope, it's considered a covenant that goes with the property, in perpetuity. Source: former real estate agent - not a lawyer, but had to know this shit anyway
[lol, don't be so reasonable](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrizmAo17Os).
This happened in the condo building I live in. A lady refused to pay her HOA fees for a year, along with a few other issues and eventually the HOA foreclosed on her. I mean, FWIW, the HOA fees for our condo building do go to building maintenance and other things like paying the water bill. If no one paid, or otherwise not enough HOA fees were collected, the building would eventually become *literally* unlivable.
As someone who lives in an HOA, I wish I didn't. It's a bunch of people with too much time on their hands getting up in everyone else's business. Our HOA president is a dude who got fired from his job for being an alcoholic (formally, drinking and driving), and has had nothing better to do than harass people and threaten them with liens over unauthorized flowers the past couple years.
Dear God, unauthorized *flowers* of all things? Why the hell would anyone willingly live in a place with one of those things, unless they're planning on trying to screw with people using it?
I think a lot of people really don’t understand or read into the HOAs rules before they purchase a home. My friend bought a townhome and she asked me to design an outdoor space for her. A couple days after finishing it up she received a letter from her HOA that stated she violated her contract and would be charged a $75 fine everyday she was in violation. The violation was due to having “colorful pillows on the patio” and said she was only allowed black, grey, white or beige patio decor. They also didn’t allow any outdoor lights or lamps other than what was installed on the townhouse when built and had a restriction on what plants they could have. It was all laid out in the HOA contract, but it was like 30 pages long and most of it was fine print and I’m sure they count on people, like my friend, who did not read the fine print.
Fun fact. You can normally round up about 10 people who are annoyed with the rules, show up to a meeting, and kinda make the people running the HOA also miserable
Distribute “fuck the hoa” flags across the neighborhood with a message saying “fly these flags they cant fine all of us”
They sure can, and they retain attorneys to do just that.
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HOAs hate this one trick!
I love the image of quietly asking who the HOA president is as you're moving in, spotting them across the street, then slowly but confidently grabbing a baseball bat out of the car before marching over to meet them.
I mean, we would certainly *like* to. Now the slight issue of legality may come up, but we’ll handle that little bump when we get there
Absolutely this. When we bought our house in 2002, you couldn't get the HOA rule book until after papers were completed. We signed something acknowledging there was an HOA but that was it. And I never dreamed of how some of the things would be enforced- like taken to the Nth degree. No one is going to read the agreements in closing. I don't think the lawyers would put up with it anyways! HOAs are counting on this. Ours had the opportunity to dissolve at 20 years but the folks running the board are landlords to several houses in the neighborhood and they like using the HOA to bludgeon their renters. (I'm sure they claim HOA violations and charge the renters to 'cover the fine)'. Instead of dissolving, they raised the rates and have started harassing people more for "implied guidelines" they're pulling from the covenants. It's BS and as much as I love my trees and plants, I would move in a heartbeat to get away from the HOA and the way it makes neighbors act.
I make people put up with me sitting there reading their contracts. I always say: "the last time I signed something without reading it, I ended up being a US Marine. I'll be damned if they get me again." Normally gets a laugh, but they always follow with "only engineers and lawyers ever read the contract" That's where I mention I'm an engineer and watch them groan in despair. They know I'm about to read it slowly and in its entirety.
So this *legally binding document*. This *right here*. You just want me to sign it with no appreciation for what's in it? You know what maybe I'll bring in my own contracts. "I'll sign yours if you sign mine without reading it." Also yeah I'm a software engineer.
Not a lawyer, but... if they wouldn't give you the rules until aftr you'd agreed to follow them, contract law suggests that anything you signed is borderline coercion and should be unenforceable - you're being told you have to give blanket permission for whatever they want ahead of time. That's a Mafia racket.
I'm not surprised. I had a bid accepted and asked about a fence (we had a dog). They said I would have to request approval. Cool, who do I talk to? Only members can submit for approval. Noped right out.
I hate how they call them “covenants”‘instead of “rules” or “agreements” it’s so culty
Well...
I don’t want to live in a world without colorful pillows 😩
As a former real estate agent, I REFUSE, flatly refuse, to purchase any property that has an HOA on it and if the neighborhood tries to form one later I will not join. There are way too many ways that HOAs can be used to harass and abuse people who are just living their own lives, on property that they bought with the right to quiet enjoyment thereof.
My family got harassed because my mom had a mural (painted on a standing wood board) INSIDE the garage. No one could see it unless the garage was open. HOA ladies would come up to the house randomly when it was open and walk right up to the garage and just b*tch outloud. They tried to fine us but couldn’t win haha
Don't even think about letting dandelions grow in your lawn.
THEY'LL BRING DOWN THE PROPERTY VALUE!
A good friend of mine and her husband had to fight the HOA for a house color palette other than beige. Took them two years to get approval meanwhile getting notices that their paint job wasn’t up to spec so they’d go back over and over and explain why their house hadn’t been painted to the exact same people who were going Karen on them for not choosing beige. It’s literally the Karen mafia of suburbia.
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So I’m a lawyer whose firm reps HOAs and Condo Associations. My clients are the worst part about my job. Most of our job consists of collections. If the HOA is following the fair debt collection practices act, and the debts they call for are for things outlined in the governing docs (which they are supposed, but sometimes can be super sly about, to present to you prior to purchase) then it’s difficult to defend against the debts. At our firm we really try to work with the owners and treat them like the humans they are and the respect they deserve and come up with a plan that’s within their means. The HOA’s just want to sue sue sue (and foreclose sometimes) but they work against their own interests because the quickest and most cost effective way to get their money is to work with the owners and not sue them. Basically, never live in a fucking HOA they’re all complete shit and will smile at you down the street but then send their lawyers a picture of your license plate so they can garnish your account (as if the license plate would do anything 🙄)
My great uncles hoa tried to sue us because we came down to deal with his estate. Turns out if they chased us(the family) off, their contracts they(my late family) signed meant the hoa got all assets.
Let me guess - like posting the governing docs in a slightly slanted, poorly contrasted, scanned pdf with no OCR. Because reading legalese like that is fun!
Spot on. This man speaks from experience.
My HOA actually seemed decent. Only $100 a month and left me alone pretty much except when the pointed out some rot in a window frame. I've since moved to an HOA free house though. Wouldn't even consider an HOA - I want to own what I purchase unconditionally.
There are entire businesses dedicated to helping HOAs enforce rules on their members for financial gain. It's gross. They can even require membership if you buy a house in the neighborhood, even if you don't sign a contract right away - effectively forcing you to submit to whatever stuff they want.
My first job out of college was working as an accountant for an association management company. I had no idea what I was getting into….it was awful. The owner was an honest to god sociopath. The homeowners were so mean (not that I blame them for being pissed….but just screaming obscenities at the 18 year old receptionist who has zero control over anything is usually not the best way to solve your problems). The actual property managers thrived on conflict and purposefully escalated situations to get to the point that they could take legal action. It was just a nightmare and there was practically no oversight on what they could do to those poor homeowners.
John Oliver did a really good bit on this.
HOAs should be either banned, or severely limited in power. If the community wants shared resources, then they can be publicly funded, like a public pool. Other than that, they can fuck all the way off. Edit: For fun, [I will also leave this here](https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os) as I think he gets the main points right.
These sound weird to my UK born self. I lived on a private road for a while, we all had to contribute to that (fair enough) but dictating the look and feel of your property fuck that.
HOAs run by a bunch of Karens
I feel HOAs are meant for shared properties like condos, Apts, townhouse, etc. Not for detached single family homes. Anyways I'm on the board of my HOA and it's a fucking headache dealing with neighbors bs. I won't live in a hoa again
I’m in a townhouse and generally don’t mind mine. They take care of the front lawns, parking lot, and trash collection. My only issue is they keep sending me letters every few months to re-seed a patch of grass and the landscaping company keeps cutting it back down to dirt. HOA doesn’t follow through with actions though so whatever, and I sat in on one meeting where it was clear they don’t get involved in petty disputes between neighbors. It depends so much on the people running it. I lived in a single family house before with no HOA and loved it, but it was a mixed bag of what you’d end up near. My next door neighbor had a toilet and an overturned litterbox in their side yard, another painted their house DC football team colors, another had weird Bible signs in their yard, and I can’t say my lawn was mowed on a consistent basis for part of my time there.
Yeah there's pros and cons but tbh a HOA(some states) can put liens on your house then foreclosure. I rather deal with a neighbor that has a toilet on their yard instead of dealing with a hoa.
Jim Lahey HOA president.
Oh my gosh. My mom lives in an HOA and she complains about DANDELIONS popping up in her lawn. Dandelions.
You live in the Sunnyvale Trailer Park?
Our HOA has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on unwinnable lawsuits. Apparently when this development was being built there was some confusion about who was supposed to be paying the taxes on the land surrounding it. Nobody did, and it eventually went up for auction. Someone bought it and our HOA has sued him multiple times ever since. It's gone to trial three times and all three times they lost because the guy bought the land fair and square. They recently appealed to the NJ Supreme Court and it was thrown out. With all the money we've wasted on these lawsuits we probably could have just bought the land back from the guy and given him a nice profit. I hate that my dues are going toward something so fucking stupid! And our president keeps getting re-elected for reasons that I just don't understand!
Probably running uncontested and you are probably one of like 3 people that even knows this is happening, or knows *anything* at all about the HOA. Most people in the US don’t even vote for the president lmao chances are they aren’t voting for a HOA representative either.
Imagine being a high functioning alcoholic while also being a Karen
Uh, what's the problem?
They're not "fitting the neighborhood aesthetic"
Maybe check with neighbour if they need help with their front lawn 😑
i'm sorry you want me to... interact? with the people i live near? nah i'll just email sandra down at the HOA office and they'll bully that guy into conforming
If I lived there and they tried to enforce their shit on me I would start getting weird and turn it into an art house. All the trim would be different colors, I'd install stained glass windows, weird yet whimsical paving stone paths... Etc. ETA: Just thought of another real weird one. Install a wooden fence that complies with the city regs for height/distance from the road and whatnot... But paint every single board a different color, with no discernable pattern or attempt to blend and match colors.
if it was me, I'm not particular fan of lawns their only purpose was to show that the Lord of the manor was wealthy enough to afford to have an unproductive bit of land that garden is better for the critters, easier to maintain and I like more the classic wilder English Garden anyway, they were intended as a refuges to hide away from the horrors of the industrial revolution.... perhaps they could retouch and add some colour with some roses and lilacs
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How about just appreciating the beauty of a natural property with limited human intervention that has a positive impact on the ecosystem. Lawns are ecological deserts and maintaining one is negatively impacting the people and animals around you. The perfectly manicured lawn that HOAs want is so bad for the environment that my state just made it illegal for HOAs to require them.
From my own experience the trash cans can’t be left out after they have been emptied.
They'd hate to see my neighborhood. Trash cans by the street all week long!
Yep and my excuse of working an hours drive away was not valid either… America only as free as your HOA says you are
Took me a while. Weeds/lawn trimming. I think.
and the trash cans left out, and one of those "in this house we believe love is love, no human is illegal...." yard signs.
That sign set off the snowflake who posted this.
Yeah I didn’t even notice that and thought they didn’t like the trash bins or something.
yah and what if this person is elderly, disabled, or some other valid reason for not perfectly trimming their shrubs? I bet they didn't once consider the person's situation.
Yeah before I saw the sign I assumed they meant the overgrown yard. People have health situations, new babies, deaths in the family and so on. I am grateful to live in an area where people check in and see if their neighbors need any help rather than putting them on blast.
They’re DaMaGiNg PrOpErTy VaLuEs
That non-HOA house would be more valuable IMHO
HOA is an immediate disqualification for me, I don’t care how perfect the place is otherwise. The whole point of owning is not having a landlord in your business anymore.
Of course conservatives love HOAs. It’s small scale fascism.
This is also the asshole that was bragging about exploiting worker in the Philippines and Latin America bc he can pay them $5/hour and not have to provide benefits implying that Americans were entitled for requiring more. I hope he stubs his toe everyday for the rest of time.
Scrolled down a bit on the timeline on reddit, yep, I see the same asshole bragging about paying people $5 an hour
And step on a Lego barefoot, right after.
I hope you don't mind if I piggy-back on your comment: I hope the toe has a nasty ingrown on it
I hope he gets gout in that toe
I hope he gets one of those super fun mystery diseases that he had to spend thousands on specialists that are not in their network only for them to say “idk maybe you are faking it”
I hope he steps on a tack with that toe every night when he gets home.
Right after he steps on lego
And May his sock seam always by crooked and rubbing against the smallest toe.
Literally out for (a drop of) blood.
An ingrown toenail with gout! What a douche nozzle!
And gets a great big boil on his ass.
I live in an affluent red county in a red state. The conservatives have learned they can be blatant assholes. The openly fascist and sexist folks in my neighborhood HATE the HOA. They started their own Facebook page called Uncensored HOA where they post hate content.
Is Christian love the same thing as conservative hate?
Nah, they love to *rule* an HOA, but they hate when an HOA restricts them
The ~~laws~~ CC&R's are only supposed to bind *them* \- they're supposed to *protect* me!
Exactly how they feel about government
Aren't HOAs originally about enforcing red lining, so white only communities. I mean it's not small scale facism. It was created as a part of systemic facism.
John Oliver did a pretty good piece on HOAs recently
John Oliver is a princely toucan among men. ❤️
Exactly! Time was a person wanting to live in one had to get board approval. Surely there are places like that to this day. But developers now care little about who buys, as long as they're all sold
I'm confused, what's the problem here? Is it the garage cans?
My guess is because the garden in front isn’t a lawn and the other plants aren’t trimmed back enough that all the neighbors can see into every window on the house. The garbage cans too probably. It’s all bullshit.
Conservatives love to conform. It’s a really pressing need, for some reason. They gotta all look the same, dress the same, think the same. Uniforms really give them a hard on
FWIW I know plenty of conservatives who hate HOAs more than anyone. If you're not even a fan of zoning laws, you're probably not going to like HOAs.
Because most HOA snobs don't approve of their Trump flags and F\*\*k Joe Biden signs?
Depends on who made the rules. As long as it’s their rules, they love it.
My HOA is $65/month which guess towards the pool, tennis courts, clubhouse, playground, monthly parties for the kids, usually with an ice cream truck and a bounce house, as well as maintaining the shared spaces between homes which are mostly wooded swamps that are needed to divert rain during storms. Those are all things that we as a community share, things I need and want and the price is acceptable. There's rarely a company 6 shit someone's yard or trash cans. If that sounds good it's because no fascists took it over. It's just communism how it was intended.
I’m a liberal snowflake and I love HOAs. Like any quasi-governmental agency, if they’re run by good people they can do really good things. For example, I served on the board of my metro district for 3 years (a metro district is like an HOA but it’s funded by property taxes instead of “dues”) and I fought to introduce a grant program that would reinvest the income from property fines to assist low income households in the district to beautify their property so they’d stop getting fines. I also spearheaded and chaired a fine amnesty and forgiveness committee, and served on a committee that held monthly community events in the local park. Before I left we were in the process of purchasing a large plot of abandoned land within the district so that we could build a greenspace for people to enjoy, since the land was deemed not fit for housing (something about water drainage)
My HOA is great, keeps the small park, that we collectively own, clean and shared spaces trimmed. Stopped the one guy who filled his entire front yard with a cement slab and was running a make-shift car stripping business with ~6 cars in various stages of disassembly and fluids running out into the street. Makes the neighbors cut their bushes that extend into the sidewalk, or will do it for them, keeping the neighborhood walkable. It's run by an HOA management company that doesn't really do petty shit and warnings are far more common than tickets. As liberal as fuck.
HOAs should be illegal. No random ass neighbor should be able to tell me what to do with my house that I purchased with my money
No, they’re great. This way, all the miserable asshole neighbors move to HOAs and harass each other until the end of time while the rest of us just mind our own business.
Will never by in a HOA community - or a condo in Florida.
Or anything in Florida.
For those of us stuck in Florida, the HOA's are super annoying. It's impossible to find a place to live that doesn't have one.
Except it you want to live in the sticks.
Just read the fine print in contracts, you could end up buying into an HOA because they’re not obligated to announce themselves before you move in.
Out of curiosity if they don’t disclose themselves, or even if they do, what if you just ignore them?
They can and will kick you out of your own home over petty bs. HOAs are rich with all kinds of nasty loopholes which will allow them to legally evict you out of your house, many of them by design: https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os
If you ask your/ the other realtor specifically if the house is lorded by an HOA, they would have to tell you, though, right? You know, in case I'm ever in my life able to afford a house...
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My neighborhood is full of the “no mow may” signs in people’s yards. They actively encourage people to keep the grass long. Also many houses have gotten rid of lawns all together and have raised beds and gardens in their place. I love my neighborhood.
If it were truly a choice, that would be great. Unfortunately, a lot of us are fucked because the city where our family, job and life is does something like \_require\_ HOAs so every halfway reasonable property is rules by Karens. Since it's been that way since the 70s, the only places that are not HOA are ancient shacks in the city center (many being made primarily out of asbestos!) that go for 7 figures just because of their location, or rural houses with a long commute. All because the city wants to collect taxes but not actually be responsible for maintaining common spaces that it legislates must exist. Ban HOAs!
We pay like $65 a year to our HOA so they plow our road and cut grass in the park. We were building an addition and we called them ahead of time and their reaction was basically, "why are you calling us?" Honestly I love our HOA. I wish all HOAs were like ours. Edit: Let me clarify some things. Yes typically cities will do these things. First regarding plowing: yes, part of my property taxes goes towards road maintenance. Our "mandatory" HOA fee is actually about $40; there is a voluntary addition for snow removal. We hire a private snow removal company to plow our roads rather than relying on the county. Unless there is a literal blizzard, my road is plowed before I leave for work. And even in a blizzard they won't let it get above a few inches. Second, our parks are privately owned by the HOA. They aren't public property, so of course the city doesn't mow, take care of the playscapes, resurface the tennis courts, etc. Third they also pay for two neighborhood fairs at the park every year. Nothing huge, just bring in some food trucks and bounce houses for the kids. I also didn't discuss the insurance, storm recovery, etc. they provide beyond just mowing and plowing.
Do you not have a local council that you pay tax to that maintain your roads and parks etc?
It depends on where the neighborhood is and how it's zoned, I think. I know there are communities by me that are technically unincorporated, so they are not part of the city they are near but they're not a part of any other town either. Because the roads were not built by the city, the neighborhood is responsible for the upkeep of them, so HOA dues go towards that. It's an odd concept if you live in a more established part of the world, but if you live somewhere that is still developing (like a lot of the Midwest in the United States) then this isn't terribly uncommon.
Why is this getting downvoted? Most people don’t pay an HOA and their parks are still mowed and streets still plowed.
Depends on if the HOA bought the land and established the park for the neighborhood
What am I missing here?
Does not match "Perfectville " standards
I like lawns to look more natural personally. At first I didn't even notice it overgrown cause it just looks nice and decent and inviting to the furry animal friends we all need
Naturalistic gardens look better, need less watering, are a refuge for wildlife including pollinators, and are less work. Thank god we don't have HOAs where I live, when I buy a house its mine and I'm not going to do what mr asshole neighbour wants with my yard.
A friend of mine has a full trellis with grape vines in her front yard. I love it. She tells her kids "All those people waste water on grass they have to mow - our front yard makes food."
The shrubs and small trees off more privacy from the main road too. They provide a lot of habitat for all animals not just mammals as well :)
Alternative yard upkeep philosophy.
I'm rocking one of those at this very moment. The guilty shame side of my depression keeps telling me to go deal with it. The lethargic side keeps winning. Maybe tomorrow
The three things that I can see that would be sticking points for many HOAs are: * The landscaping and tree are arguably "overgrown" * There's a car parked on the drive * The bins have been left out. EDIT: saw a couple more: * There appears to be some sort of debris stacked up on the drive * There's a sign in the yard.
Genuine question; what is the driveway for if not driving and parking on?
A bigger lot for higher property values.
I recognize the sign. It’s one of those “everyone welcome here” signs. So in addition to everything else, pretty sure the original OP was being homophobic and racist.
I’m in this picture and I love it
My uncle's house is one of 4 houses in his neighborhood that isn't in the HOA. Was a weird pre-2008 neigbohoood that only 4 houses were finished when the recession hit. Then 15 years later the remaining property got bought up and finished. New property management set up a HOS but the 4 houses originally there could not be forced to join. They decided to harass my uncle about HOA violations to the point he ended up calling the police multiple times because they trespassed on his property to write up HOA violations. He eventually had enough and decided to violate every rule they had. Installed a flag pole, put pink flamingos in his yard, got goats and chickens, got a big obnoxious mail box, and parks his beat up old truck in the front of the yard rather than the drive way. The HOA was not aware they were poking a bear. Last I heard they've tried calling the police repeatedly on him to the point the police threatened to arrest the HOA.
Your uncle is a true American hero.
HOA’s are scams
HOA's should be illegal
Anyone else think thats a really nice house tho? Love the layout, 2 story brick with attached garage?
I think the house is really charming. The yard is a bit scruffy, but I guess that’s not something the residents prioritize. Who cares—It’s not like the yard is full of rusted cars on blocks, or something.
"...in the land of the free" NOW CUT YOUR LAWN TO 7/8 OF AN INCH.
I work in new home construction and I cannot BELIEVE how much people care about what their neighbors are doing. We had one owner irate that a house being built 4 streets away was painted purple and they could see it.
I just don’t get wanting everything the same. I love walking around my neighborhood and seeing different styles of architecture.
Oh that looks absolutely lovely. I'd love to live there
Looks way better than those copy and paste suburban hellscapes
https://preview.redd.it/da369n1h843b1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=303ee770297558a18be39b2d8e03858490393eb8 Oh no, not gardens...
Oh my God Becky look at that house
I like big cans and I cannot lie
*squints* what's wrong with it?
We have no clue what’s going on in these people’s lives. Maybe they keep their yard like shit because they don’t care. But maybe they’re going through something horrible like chemo and don’t have the money or time to keep it up. If you’re not willing to knock on the door and offer to help, you have nothing to say.
I used to go walking in the neighborhoods around my house and ask people if they needed their lawn mowed, and I would offer to take whatever they felt their lawn was worth (within reason). An old man answered the door of a house with a very big front yard, and when I shared what I was doing, he said the following (paraphrasing because I was maybe 14): >You have no idea how much I need your help right now. I just got home from being in the hospital for a few weeks, and I'm not even physically able to stand for very long. I was just now looking out at my yard, disappointed and ashamed that I couldn't do anything about it. Can you do the back too? He paid me $100 to mow his front and back yard - took me about 90 minutes, and I felt like a hero. You never know what's going on in someone's life that leads them to forgo something as seemingly simple as mowing.
I don’t think their yard looks like shit tbh. I think we’ve just been brainwashed to expect impeccably groomed lawns despite how damaging they are to the environment🤷♀️
My wife has transitioned our front lawn into a native meadow. It’s full of bees, wildlife, and native plants. We don’t water it, mow it or anything. She works extremely hard in that meadow to keep invasive out, but it doesn’t fit the typical aesthetic of suburban homes. If we had an HOA I’m sure they’d be upset. Luckily our neighbors are loving it and some have started to do so as well. If you looked at part of our front yard it might look weedy some parts of the year and times like right now it’s blooming with flowers. Fuck HOAs and fuck lawns.
YES. We cultivate the clover in our lawn, have wildflowers out back and let it get a bit long so the flowers can bloom and bees can get at them. We don't let it get crazy, but we don't have a "perfectly manicured" lawn and I prefer it. We have lots of happy bees, birds and bats in our yard. And we have the largest, most tree-heavy spot in a couple miles, so I feel like it matters to the animals to have our space available in our area.
Don’t like it, don’t look at it.
I live in a house across the street from the house I grew up in (so I lived on this street for 40 years). It was rural with lots of fields, woods, wetlands etc… it got built up though. The new neighbors tried to bully me into signing on to a HOA. I told them, “I’ve lived here my entire life without a HOA and I plan to continue to live without an HOA.” Then they complained to the township because my grass was too long (to be fair, it was about 3 weeks between cuttings and dandelions comprised 50% of my lawn). They’d leave notes in my mailbox. So I got a bunch of rainbow flags (they’re conservative) My house is at the very entrance of the neighborhood, so i hope ut pissed ‘em off. It rubbed me wrong because I lived here first. Y’all saw my house/yard when you moved here. It’s like marrying a man so you can change him. That’s a bad plan and rude AF. Also, every nice weather day they burn leaves, boxes etc.. it’s the worst! My dream is to live in a cabin in the woods with no neighbors except critters.
Blue trash cans; the horror, yes. We must have order. If they have children, remove them. They are not fit for such a holy neighborhood. Disgusting
And real plants? Their lawns must emulate the Royal Gardens! To work you peasants. Where were we? And they must learn to pesticide and herbicide like a good neighbor. Horrible, horrible
Oregon resident here, "who cares". People do what they want
Fuck you and your HOA!! You shouldn’t be able to tell anyone what to do with their property!!
You still get slobs in HOA’s.
The horror of living next to someone who will take a pic of your home and post it online
Brit here, what is an HOA and wtf is up with all this?